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At the conclusion of most running plays during training camp a back will burst out of a crowd of would-be tacklers and take off sprinting down the field alone into the distance. Most times they realistically would have been down within five yards, but coaches ask every player finish the play to the end.

The distance the back treks depends on the play, everyone is different. And then there's Rex Burkhead. Rarely does the ball tuck into his No. 33 jersey without him ending either in the end zone or the vicinity of it.

Coming from a mentality where practice reps have traditionally meant the primary medium to impress coaches, the second-year pro doesn't plan on throwing away opportunities.

"If you were to rank our offense on the finish it would be Rex Burkhead one, Andrew Whitworth two. Those two guys it is like they are chasing everything, like they are chasing somebody down."

All Burkhead chases is a chance. He beat out Daniel Herron to make the 53-man roster last season as a sixth-round pick out of Nebraska. In the preseason he ran 28 times for 130 yards and a touchdown, 4.6 yards per carry.

Only, once on the squad, he cracked the 46-man active game day roster for a single game at Baltimore in Week 10. He only took part on special teams.

This year he finds himself in the middle of a numbers crunch behind Giovani Bernard and second-round pick Jeremy Hill. Special teams ace Cedric Peerman and veteran BenJarvus Green-Ellis linger along with Burkhead at a position that traditionally keeps four running backs and a fullback.

The competition is on.

His youth and acuity for special teams play in his favor, but Burkhead needs to prove his worth in games. Coaches love his cutting ability, but after all, he hasn't taken a hit as a running back since the final preseason game of last year.

"I just got to prove I can play whenever I am given my opportunity," said Burkhead, the fifth leading rusher in Cornhuskers history, including 35 touchdowns. "Last year I didn't really get too many chances but at the same time I felt like I did some things during practice. I showed the coaches what I could do and I'll hopefully get those chances this preseason."

Finding ways to develop as a running back without utilizing live snaps can only be considered a challenge. Running backs live off instinct, speed and cuts against chaotic pursuit. Coaches can run backs through a gauntlet of bags all they want during practice, but there's no real simulating the speed of live game action and hitting.

So, Burkhead runs. And runs.

His drive pushes beyond an extra 50 yards at practice, though. As the primary scout team running back last year, he went beyond the basics of learning the opposing team's offense. He would personally ask for specific video loaded onto his iPad of the opposing team's back for that week so he could more accurately emulate him during the scout period.

"Without taking the contact hits of being tackled," Marvin Lewis said, "he probably got more carries than anybody in the building last year working against the defense every day."

The process allowed Burkhead to add pieces to his game.

"It's tough especially when you are doing scout team stuff and running the other team's offense but it's kind of cool at the same time if you are playing Reggie Bush or something where they split out wide a bunch, it can be fun," said Burkhead, who caught 60 passes for 507 yards at Nebraska. "You can still work on your craft."

Burkhead's value increases dramatically melding effort and an intelligence for football along with versatility in an offense hoping to utilize running backs more in the passing game.

"Rex should have a role on this team," Caskey said. "He's good at a lot of things. Rex is in a good spot. He's battling it out. He'll get his place. Once we get him out there on the field in (preseason) he'll get his shot to show what he could do."

In the meantime, Burkhead run into the lonely grass corners of the practice field over and over again. When gameday finally comes and he finds a crease, well, he'll know what to do.

"I really worked on my top speed this offseason, hoping to get a breakout run," Burkhead said. "It's tough in the NFL, you don't get too many, you don't see too many. Hopefully I will get some runs like that."